* MSCI world equity index up 0.3 pct at 342.63
* China trade data boosting risk appetite; inflation eyed
* Euro hits 3-week low on WestLB woes; oil rebounds
By Wanfeng Zhou
NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - World stocks climbed towards last week's 30-month high on Monday as talk of slower-than-expected Chinese inflation eased fears of policy tightening and the euro fell on worries about European banks.
U.S. crude oil
The euro
German financial regulator BaFin is involved in talks about the restructuring of WestLB as the bank struggles to come up with a rescue deal, sources told Reuters. [ID:nBAT005995]
European finance ministers assessed ways of strengthening their 440 billion euro rescue fund on Monday, but Germany remained reluctant to bolster the facility known as the EFSF without commitments on closer economic coordination.
"We have some serious questions over what's going to happen with the EU meeting this week and whether or not they will come to any kind of conclusion on the EFSF," said Andrew Busch, global currency and public policy strategist at BMO Capital Markets in Chicago.
Weakness in the euro helped push the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, to a three-week high of 78.873 <.DXY>.
Financial markets showed a muted reaction to President Barack Obama's budget proposal that would cut the U.S. deficit by $1.1 trillion over 10 years and set the stage for a bitter fight with Republicans who want tougher spending controls. See [ID:nWALEDE70C]
"The proposal today puts fiscal policy back on the agenda and that is something investors tend to like," said Marc Chandler, head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York.
The MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> rose 0.3 percent, having hit its highest level since August 2008 last week. Thomson Reuters' global stock index <.TRXFLDGLPU> gained 0.4 percent.
U.S. stocks <.DJI> <.SPX> were little changed as another day of persistently below-average volume suggested investors were unwilling to chase gains that carried stocks to 2 1/2-year highs last week.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> rose 0.3 percent to hit a 29-month peak.
CHINESE DATA
Traders said China's consumer prices may have risen as
little as 4.9 percent in the year to January, the lowest of 26
forecasts in a Reuters poll which gave a median prediction of a
5.3 percent rise. The official data will be announced on
Tuesday.
This eased concerns China's central bank would have to raise interest rates aggressively, which could slow down growth.
Optimism about the Chinese economic outlook also grew after data showed the country's trade surplus fell to its lowest in nine months in January when imports surged, underscoring robust domestic demand. Solid export growth also hinted at solidifying recoveries in the U.S. and European economies.
"The talk of the Chinese inflation data and the export and import data is going to boost the market," Heino Ruland, strategist at Ruland Research in Frankfurt said.
"Inflation has been the major worry and there has been a fear of monetary overkill, but until the data is released (on Tuesday) we could see a bit of volatility in the market."
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China's trade surplus http://link.reuters.com/weh97r
GDP of G3 economies http://link.reuters.com/dac97r ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Emerging stocks <.MSCIEF> added 1.3 percent measured by the Morgan Stanley Capital index. Shanghai stocks <.SSEC> hit an eight-week high, scoring the index's biggest single-day percentage gain since mid-December.
U.S. Treasury prices slipped though benchmark yields remained below their recent highs as investors awaited data later in the week to gauge the state of the economy and how far yields may need to rise to account for growth. (Additional reporting Julie Haviv in New York and Natsuko Waki in London; Editing by Andrew Hay)